


Chapter 13: The Chief, the Butcher, and the Painted

by BaeLee



Category: Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Genre: Cannibalism, Cannibalism to dispose of bodies, Gen, Implied Murder, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Murder, Mystery, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28818030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaeLee/pseuds/BaeLee
Summary: Set after the events of the novel, some boys have adjusted to society better than others.A proposed chapter 13 for Lord of the Flies.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Chapter 13: The Chief, the Butcher, and the Painted

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this five years ago as an assignment for my English class and I finally found it so it's getting posted. Keep in mind it is in the exact state as my high school sophomore self left it in. 
> 
> (Side note, but my teacher read everyone's chapter 13 to the entire class but didn't say who's was whose and I was secretly proud of my class's reaction to mine)

The father was angry, evident in the dimly lit room the two were standing in.

“But father, I just forgot. I didn’t mean to ignore you,” the younger boy pleaded. He knew what disobedience would cause, and very rarely acted out because of it. That’s what surprised Ralph the most.

“Simon,” he sighed. “you’ve never blatantly ignored me before, so I’ll forgive you. However, the next time you forget to do your chores you won’t get off so easily.” Ralph knelt down so Simon could hug him.

“I’m sorry, father.” He whispered. He hugged Ralph tighter.

“It’s okay. Try not to let it happen again,” Ralph stood up and ruffled Simon’s hair. “Now get on to bed. We have to get up early if we want to make it to your grandmother’s house on time.”

Simon nodded, then scurried off to bed.

When the morning came, Ralph had clothed for Simon packed in a suitcase that was too heavy for the small boy to carry himself. Together they walked to the nearby train station. The carts were nearly empty, due to the early time, but Ralph still insisted on Simon sitting right next to him. Simon busied himself with a book he had gotten for this trip, while Ralph gazed out the window and constantly checked the other passengers discreetly. 

By the time they arrived in the station near his mother’s house, Ralph felt saddened. Despite him being impatient sometimes, he really did love his son and would miss him while he was gone.

The two followed a small road, and Ralph noticed the amount of people decreasing and the amount of space between houses increasing. He had only been to his mother’s house a few times since the… since the war ended, and he didn’t think he could ever get used to feeling so secluded again.

Simon had a big smile on his face. Ralph could tell that he loved being surrounded by nature, a big difference from the crowded city he lived in most of the time.

The house was in view. It was large and surrounded by pens full of different animals. The last time he visited, there were chickens, cows, a few goats, and horses. They walked past the animals, Simon stopping to pet his favorite cow, Mildred. Ralph smiled as she nudged Simon’s face, but froze when he heard squealing. Simon noticed there was something wrong and walked faster to get to the front door.

Ralph felt less tense after knocking on the door and whispered to Simon without looking at him, “Thank you”.

His mother opened the door and enveloped Ralph in a hug without saying a word. She let go then bent down to give Simon a hug as well. She spoke once she parted from him.

“It’s been so long! Look how much you’ve grown. Soon you’ll be as tall as your dad.”

Simon beamed, and Ralph gave a small chuckle.

“It’s good to see you, Mom.” He rested a hand on Simon’s shoulder. “I wish I could stay longer, but I have to get going.” The smile melted off of Simon’s face. Ralph knelt down to give him a final hug before leaving.

“I’ll be back before you know it. As soon as this case is solved, I’m coming straight here to get you.” Ralph ruffled Simon’s hair, and started walking towards the train station to return to the city.

Jack slammed his cleaver down on the slab of meat he was working on, startling the woman in front of him.

“What do you mean it wasn’t what you wanted?” He could feel his anger bubbling up inside of him, could feel its claws digging in and taking control.

“I asked for a steak, and you gave me,” she paused. “I don’t even know what it was, but it wasn’t a steak. I know that much.” She stepped closer to the counter when she noticed that Jack wasn’t paying attention. She got too close for his comfort, and he lashed out.

“You think that you can come in here and tell me that what I sold you was bad?” Jack began chopping his meat with a vicious vigor, causing the woman to retreat.

“That’s not what I ̶ ,”

“You better leave before you get what’s coming for you.” He slammed his knife down with finality, and the woman hurried to the door.

Silence filled his shop, and the anger released him from its grasp. Jack threw the ruined meat on the floor, frustrated that he messed up. He had been trusted to get rid of evidence before, so he didn’t understand what had caused him to get sloppy this time.

Either way, that woman should’ve been grateful for the meat he had given her, regardless of what she had asked for. She and her family probably would have starved if it hadn’t been for him and his shop.

Jack was lost in thought, mindlessly chopping meat into indistinguishable pieces, when he heard someone knock on the back entrance. Behind the door, he found two limp bodies covered in blood, with an even bloodier man standing over them with a wad of cash in his hand.

Ralph entered the Police Department and almost ran into his partner, Frederick.

“What’s going on? Did someone find new evidence?” Ralph asked after seeing everybody in a hurry. Frederick shook his head.

“Not new evidence, Chief, but two men have recently gone missing. No reason to disappear, but they went out one night and their family hasn’t seen or heard from them since,” Ralph was handed a file with all the details of the disappearance.

“And you think it was him? You think it was The Painted?” Ralph was skeptical, but this case matched many aspects of the dozens of cases related to their mystery serial killer. People leave their homes too late in the evening, come from wealthy families and The Painted makes sure that they aren’t seen again. No bodies have been found, but witnesses reported seeing a man with a paint-covered face tailing the victims the night of their disappearance. Something about the newest case, however, stood out to Ralph. Instead of the usual circumstance of the lone victim, this new case involved two victims.

“They’re twins,” Frederick explained. “We went to the last place they were seen and we found signs of a struggle, almost as if the guy got in over his head.”

“Or he expected them to react strongly to the sight of him.” Ralph turned to face Frederick. “Were you able to find the names of the victims?”

“Yes, Chief.” He rustled through a few papers. “Their first names are Sam and Eric.”

Jack carefully lifted the lid to the cooler inside the meat locker and looked at the bodies in annoyance. It took quite a while to get rid of the past bodies, and it would take twice as long to get rid of two. He pondered demanding double the charge to compensate for all the trouble that had been thrust upon him. It would also keep the “supplier” in line, remind him who was really in control.

Most of the bodies he had been brought were unfamiliar to him, but Jack didn’t think he would ever be able to forget the way these two boys looked, even though they had been small children the last time he had seen them.

Not wanting to get lost in thought, Jack turned away to find a tarp. There was one in the corner of his storage closet, which he grabbed. Returning to the cooler, Jack laid the tarp over Sam and Eric’s bodies and tucked in the edges so that it wouldn’t move. Satisfied with his work, he closed the cooler and left to resume disposing of the previous body that had been left on his doorstep. 

Ralph looked through all the files about Sam and Eric, but was unable to find what he was looking for. Nothing connected the twins to the other victims of The Painted, and Ralph wondered what the motive had been for them being targeted.

Ralph thought of the killer himself. He always covered his face in paint, without fail. There have been no reports in the nearby area of suspicious behavior from neighbors, so the killer was most likely living on the streets. This could be why it was wealthy people that were victims.

That was another problem with this case. The twins didn’t come from a particularly wealthy family. They were middle class people, which begged the question: Why were the twins killed instead of someone with more money? It would have been easier and made more sense for The Painted to go after someone who was alone and get more money than to go after two people who would have a better chance to fight back and would have less money. Nothing was adding up, until Ralph realized something.

The Painted was covered in paint, and he went after the twins because he hoped to get a reaction out of them. The killer had to be someone who knew the twins, knew that they would be wary of someone concealed with paint.

The killer was someone from the island, and Ralph was confident in guessing who it was.

Ralph stood across the street from a butcher shop called Pig and Co., which he would have found cute if he didn’t think it to be the most predictable name for a shop run by none other than Jack Merridew.

It was late in the evening, and the shop had recently been closed for the day. Frederick stood next to him, looking almost excited.

“This could be it, boss,” he said quietly. Ralph nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“You go in through the front. I’ll see if there’s a back door or anything suspicious in his trash.” Ralph left Frederick and made his way across the street and into the alley behind the shop. He hoped that if Jack was still here, he would be distracted by Frederick long enough for him to find something tying Jack to the murders.

Ralph waited until he heard Frederick knock on the front entrance before going through the trash. He found nothing out of the ordinary: some torn rags, pieces of meat that were too old to sell, and some used paper. Ralph looked at the back door. He figured it would lead to a meat locker or some other type of storage, good places to keep things hidden.

Ralph grabbed the handle and slowly turned it. It was unlocked. The door must’ve been used recently and Jack had forgotten to lock it again, a simple mistake that would lead to his undoing. Ralph gently pulled the door open and felt cold air hit his face. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, careful not to make any noise.

He looked around, but he didn’t see anything suspicious. The only places that might have something worthwhile were a separate cooler against the wall and a storage closet. Ralph made his way to the cooler, and lifted the lid. He saw a dark tarp concealing something underneath. He found that strange. He couldn’t think of any reason why a butcher would need to cover something in a cooler that was kept inside. Ralph pulled back the tarp slowly. Inside lay two bodies that he instantly recognized.

Ralph’s vision was cut off by a shadow blocking the light behind him.

“It seems you couldn’t escape forever,” the figure spoke.

Ralph turned around and felt dread pool in his stomach. The Painted was in front of him with a knife and a sadistic grin.

“Roger?” Ralph said, too surprised to move.

“It’s time for you to join your friends,  _ Chief. _ ” Roger stepped closer and brought his knife down upon the helpless man.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
